Kids Unlucky

West Ham United's Under-15s have sadly seen their chances of winning the prestigious Nike Cup extinguished, after they suffered two successive defeats in Portugal.

The Hammers lost 2-1 to Italian giants AC Roma and went down by the same score to Korean Middle School.

West Ham striker Hogan Ephraim may have scored the Goal of the Tournament against the Italians, though, flicking the ball over two defenders before firing low into the net. Sadly, Roma battled back to win a closely fought encounter.

The match against Korean Middle School was also a tense affair, with the Hammers creating some excellent opportunities. Sos Yao headed our goal, but failure to convert the many other chances proved costly and the Koreans snatched a winner in the last minute of the game.

Coach Paul Heffer said: "The boys were extremely unlucky in both games. We had the better opportunities and deserved to get something.

"Korean Middle School had two chances in the whole game and scored them both and one came with the last kick of the game, which shows how unlucky we were. When you consider that the temperature has got up to 38 degrees at times, it is a magnificnent effort to play two games in a day.

"The boys have played very well and should be proud of what they have achieved. Out of 6,700 teams who entered this competition from 40 countries, we qualified for the final 20, which no other Premiership club has managed to do."

Although they can no longer win the tournament, the Hammers will now play in the final stage to determine what position they will finish overall. A team from Thailand will be their next opposition.